Air cooling, conditioning, and circulating apparatus



2 Sheets-Sheet l W. M. BELL CONDITIONING,

Filed April l0,

AND QIRCULATING APPARATUS May 31, 1938.

AIR VCOOLING w. M. BELL 2,119,038

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l .l/A34,

Filed April 1o, 19136 AIR COOLING, CONDITIONING, AND CIRCULATINGAPPARATUS lMay 31, 1938.

w M :W

W T f .zf|, .4., ./.l M 4 W f WW |l. N ff/ x Patented May 3l, 1938UNITED STAT-Es 2,119,038 -AIR COOLING, CONDITIONING, AND cm- CULATINGAPPARATUS William M. Bell, Evanston, Ill.

Application April 10,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in air cooling, conditioning andcirculating apparatus which is adaptable for use in homes, industrialplants and other buildings.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide apparatus of thischaracter which shall be simple in construction, low in cost ofinstallation and effective in use for the purposes intended.

An important object of my invention is found in the provision of novelunder-ground air-cooling channels, passages or conduits arranged toadmit air therethrough to be cooled therein and then discharged intodesired points or areas of a building; Vsuch air-cooling means includingmeans for filtering the air of dust and pollen or other matters. and amultiple speed motor-driven fan for regulating and controlling thepassage of the air through the under-ground air-cooling channels andinto and through the building.

Another object of the invention is found in the novel intake forunder-ground air-cooling means which intake includes valve-controlledopenings or passages for admitting air into the underground coolingmeans either from the basement or one of the upper floors of thebuilding or from a point outside of the building; such valves also beingarranged to simultaneously admit air into the under-ground cooling meansfrom any two or all of such points.

Another object of my invention resides in the novel construction andconfiguration of such under-ground cooling means whereby a maximumamount of cooling surface will be provided in a minimum of used oravailable space. The cooling means can be made of tile, iron pipe, orany other suitable and preferably heat conductive material, as forinstance copper or rust-resisting iron or steel.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of under-groundair-cooling means which will causefa circulation of the air in diiferentdirections in a minimum of confined space, as shown for instance inFigs. 3 and 4 where the air passes through interconnected semi-circularpipe sections disposed in a vertical plane and arranged laterally ininterconnected sections.

A further object of my invention resides in under-ground air-coolingmeans of metal having a series of spaced air-deflecting walls or ns tocause a back and forth movement of the air through said air-coolingmeans and toincrease the area of the surface thereof.

A still further object of the invention resides in air-cooling, lteringand humidifying apparatus comprising an air filtering intake unit, an

1936, Serial No. 73,667

air blower having air humidifying and heating means, and under-groundair-cooling means connecting said units.

Another object of my invention is found in the provision of anair-cooling conduit provided within the construction of the basementfloor of a building or under the basement iloor.

Another object of my invention resides in an air-cooling conduitextended preferably in the form of a coil through a body of water, asfor illustration, through a coil in a well or cistern.

A still further object of my invention is found in the provision oftubular or rectangular air passages within the'walls'of a buildingprovided with air outlets into therooms and air inlets connected to theblower unit.

With the above and other objects in View, my'

struction and arrangement of the parts and memy bers shown in preferredembodiment in the attached drawings, described in the followingspecications and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

- In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a portion of apparatus embodying myinvention showing an application thereof to a building shown in, asectional elevation;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a modified blower unit andair-cooling means;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic'illustration of one form of air-cooling meansshown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view through the basement of a buildingshowing the air-cooling conduit formed as a part of the basementoor;

Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a sectional plan view of a portion of a basement of a buildingand showing an air-cooling conduit extending through the water in acistern or well, and

Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken Fig. 7.

In the illustrations, I0 indicates the walls of a building having abasement fioorll and upper floors I2. 'I'he basement floor I`I is belowgrade or ground level which is indicated by- I3.

As shown in Fig. 1, the building walls are provided. with tubular `orrectangular ducts indicated respectively by I4 or I5 having outletopenings provided with grills I6.

The apparatuses shown in Figs. 1 and 2 includes an air ltering intakeunit generally indion line 8-8 of cated by I1, a blowerunit -generallyindicated by I8 and an under-ground air-cooling means generallyindicated by I3.

The air iiltering intake unit I1 consists of a housing 20, preferably ofmetal, having a circular intake 2I extended -through a screened opening22 into the top of housing 20, a circular intake 23 adapted to admit airfrom within-the basement of the building, a floor intake 24 adapted toadmit air from within the lower room 25 of the building through a grate26 in the iloor I2 and through an opening in one side of the housing 20.

The air intakes 2|, 23 and 24 are each provided With a circular gatevalve 21. As shown in Fig. 1, air may be received into the intakehousing 20 through any one of the intakes 2|, 23 or 24, or through anytwo of such air intakes or through all three of them by simplemanipulation of the valves 21. In Fig. 1 I show air being admitted fromoutside of the building through intake 2I since the valves 21 for theother two intakes are shown in closed position.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the air intake unit I1 is connected at itsrear side with an underground air-cooling means shown in the form of ametallic conductor I Il having an extension through the wall of thebuilding and connecting with the housing 20 so that air received intothe housing may be passed through the under-ground air-cooling metallicconductor I9 into the blower unit I8. The metallic conductor may be ofany suitable metal as for instance copper and preferably provided withspaced air deecting walls or fins 28 constituting bailles to aninterrupted ow of the air through the conductor I9 and providingadditional heat conductive surfaces increasing the cooling eciency ofthis unit.

One or more removable air filters 29 of any known design may be mountedwithin the intake housing to iilter the air before its passage into thecooling conductor I9.

'I'he air is drawn into and through the intake 20 and through thecooling conductor I9 by means of a fan 30 driven by a motor 3I mountedin the housing 32 of the blower unit I8.

If desirable, the blower unit may be provided with an air iilter locatedbetween the fan 30 and the outlet of the air-cooling conductor I9.

From within the blower housing 32 the cooled and ltered air may beforcibly discharged through the passage 34 into the conduit 35, which isconnected with the rectangular Wall conduit I5, and through the gratedopening I6 into the room 25, or the valve 3B may be closed and the airdischarged through outlet 31 to other parts of the building or the airmay be passed through passage 38 and distributed through a lateralconduit 39 for discharge into the rooms through a series of tubular wallpassages I4.

Obviously, suitable valves, as for instance valve 36, -may be providedfor all air distributing channels leading from the blower unit I8 forcontrolling and regulating the discharge of air to the different rooms.Likewise, the air inlet valves 21 may be operated to provide inlet .ofair from any one of such inlets, or any two of such inlets or all of theinlets.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I show a modified form of air-cooling means and alsoshow how humidication and air heating means may be provided in theblower unit. One form of humidifying means is indicated by the frame 40constituting a wick type humidiiier which is kept moistened by capillaryaction through its immersion in the water tank 4I which is automaticallyfilled with`Y water through the inlet pipe 42 controlled by a. oat valve43. The wick type humidifier frame is mounted between the blower fan 30and the air outlets.

A steam or hot water heating coil 44 is shown positioned between theblower fan 3II and humidier frame 40 and in the event a hot air heatingunit is employed the hot air chamber of the heater may be connected tothe blower unit I8 by means of a hot air duct 45 to discharge heated airinto the blower unit I8 into a section located between the air lfilter33 and the under-ground cool air connections.

Figs. 3 and 4 show an under-ground air-cooling unit comprisingsubstantially semi-circular pipe sections 48 connected together toprovide a winding air chamber. To provide suiiicient air-cooling surfacethe pipe sections are placed in a series of connected rows providingadjacent winding passages for the circulation and cooling of the air asshown diagrammatically in Fig. 4.`

As shown in Fig. 3, the inlet may be in the form of a verticallydisposed pipe 4GA extended above the ground surface and terminating in asemicircilar pipe 46B provided with a screened inlet 1.

Referring now particularly to Figs. and 6, the air filtering intake unitI1 and blower unit I8 are shown diagrammatically in spaced end portionsof the basement connected by a winding air-cooling conduit 48 which isdisposed between a double basement iioor of spaced upper and lowersections, respectively 49 and 50. The upper floor section 49 issupported on air-deflecting walls 5I disposed between the oor sections49 and 5I).

It is obvious that the conduit 48 can be arranged or built in variousforms or configurations to provide the desired extended windingaircooling passage, that is, the path of the air, which is to be cooled,may be arranged to extend in a back and forth or winding manner asbetween the oor sections 49 and 50 along the sides and around the endsof the walls 5I. In Fig. 5, 'this air-cooling passage is dened by thespaced ntermediate parallel walls 5I which extend alternately from onebasement side wall 52 toward and to a spaced distance from the otherside Wall 52 to thus provide alternately arranged end passages 48Aconnecting the ends of the parallel passages 48 one with the other. Thisback and forth movement of the air will extend from the intake iiooropening 53 at the bottom of the intake unit I1 to the outlet flooropening 54 at the lower end of the blower unit I8.

It is also contemplated that a similar aircooling system could beprovided under a single basement floor by the use of iron pipes orconcrete conduits arranged in a circuitous or winding manner, as forinstance, that shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

In the modifications shown in Figs. '7 and 8 I show an air-blower unitI8 similar to that shown in Fig. `3 discharging cooled air throughconduits 35, 31 and 38 to the wall tubes I4 and other parts o-f thebuilding but in the present adaption the air is cooled by its passagethrough a, coiled pipe 55 disposed within the water of a cistern or wellindicated by 56. The air cooling coil 55 is connected at the intake endwith an air intake pipe 51 extended above the top 58 of the cistern andthe outlet end of the coil 55 is connected with the blower unit I8 byany suitable extended pipe 59 preferably extending underground.

I claim: l

1. 'I'he combination with a building, of air conditioning apparatuscomprising an air intake unit, a blower unit, both of Said units beingmounted within the building, a plurality of air intakes adapted to admitair into said air intake unit from the basement, or room above thebasement or from outside of the building, valves for controlling saidplurality of air intakes whereby air may be admitted into said airintake unit through one or more or all of said plurality of I airintakes, an under-ground air cooling conduit connecting said air intakeunit with said blower unit. removable air ltering means at the intakeand outlet of said under-ground air cooling conduit, air-heating meansin said blower unit, and air-humidifying means between said air-heatingmeans and the air outlet of sai blower unit.

2. In a building, air conditioning apparatus comprising an air intakeunit, a blower unit, both of said units being mounted within thebuilding,

a plurality of -air intakes adapted to admit air `v into said air intakeunit from the basement, or room above the basement or from outside ofthe building, valves for controlling. said plurality of air intakeswhereby air may be admitted into said air intake unit through one ormore or all of said plurality of air intakes, an under-ground aircooling conduit connecting said air intake unit with saidblower unit,means for iiltering the air pas/sing through said under-ground aircooling conduit, air-heating means in saidblower unit, andair-humidifying means between saidl air-heating means and the air blowerunit. y

3. In air cooling apparatus as embodied in claim 2 and including saidair cooling conduit constituting a winding conduit formed by a licorspaced below the basement fioorof the building and spaced partitionwalls between said floors, said partition walls being provided withspaced openings to permit the air to pass between said outlet of saidfloors in a winding manner from said air intake

